Footnotes

Provenance:
Property from a private collection, Alexandria
Originally acquired by Mohie Eldin Ellabbad, circa 1960's
Acquired from the above by Dr Hussein El Shaboury, circa 1990's
Acquired by the present owner in 1999

Literature:
The Cultural Development Fund, The Egyptian Ministry of Culture, Mahmoud Said, Cairo, 1 October 1999
Hussan Rachwan, Valerie Didier Hess, Mahmoud Saïd: Catalogue Raisonné, Skira Editore, 2016

"The Nile, forever new and old, Among the living and the dead, Its mighty, mystic stream has rolled."
Henry Wadsworth Longfellow


AN IMPORTANT PAINTING OF THE NILE AT ASWAN BY MAHMOUD SAID

""What I am looking for is radiance rather than light. What I want is internal light, not surface light.... Surface light pleases for a minute or an hour while internal light captivates slowly, but once it appears, it imprisons us, it possesses us"
- Mahamoud Said, Letter to Beppi-Martin, 1927

Bonhams are privileged to present a rare and exquisite depiction of the Nile at Aswan by the father of twentieth century Egyptian Art: Mahmoud Said. Depicting a placid, radiant stretch of the Nile and the iconic grey boulders of the First Cataract, the present painting is one of the most skillful and imposing examples of Said's obsession with, and mastery of light and luminosity.

Said's landscapes, much like his portraits, sought to reflect an empathetic and stylized representation of rural Egypt and its rich historical landscape, and the choice of Aswan as a subject matter perhaps best reflects Said's adoration for the purity and authenticity of "true Egypt".

Aswan is an ancient city which in antiquity was the frontier town of the Egyptian Kingdom facing the south. "Anqet" was an Old Kingdom goddess related to the Nile in the Aswan area. The goddess was known as 'She Who Embraces', a name indicating that she was probably thought to hold the Nile in her arms. The idea of the Nile as life giving source, and the notion that Aswan represented the heart and source of the Nile, led to the perception of Aswan as the lifeblood of Egypt, the Southernmost point from where Egypt "opened" into the North, and from where it drew its sacred energy.

Artists and poets have long been drawn to the allure of this fabled terrain, as Southern Egypt has come represent the pure, unfettered origins of the countries national identity, with fellow artist Hussein Bikar writing that "Egypt is not Cairo, not even the northern town and villages, no... it lies in the depths of the south where the relics of the Pharaohs are to be found. Here, even the faces are genuine, they are Egyptian through and through."

A painting with a remarkable and extraordinary provenance, it was originally found in the hands of a Sweet Potato seller in a Cairo market in the 1960's by the renowned Egyptian illustrator Mohie Eldin Ellabad (1940-2010) who purchased it for the sum of 5 EGP (equivalent to the 12 pennies at the time). With the help of the then culture minister Farouk Hosni, the painting was subseuqnelty bought by Dr Hussein El Shaboury, a prominent Alexandrian Architect and Collector in the 1990's, from whom it was acquired by the current owner.

An iconic location depicted by an artist who was ardent on chronicling the landscape of his native land, Nil a L'Aswan's shimmering, reflective waters mirror the superlative artistic prowess of a painter utterly devoted to his subject matter.

Mahmoud Said's body of work is considered as one of the central pillars of twentieth century Egyptian art. Born into an aristocratic Alexandrian family, Mahmoud Said was an unlikely artist. He was the son of Mohammed Pasha Said, who was Egypt's Prime Minister during the reign of King Faud I, he later became uncle to Queen Farida, the first wife of King Farouk. Throughout his lifetime Said existed in the Milieu of the Egyptian gentry, a subject matter wholly rejected in his artworks, reflecting a sincere desire to divert his artistic gaze towards the land of Egypt and of common Egyptians, a stark contrast to the Euro-centric aristocracy which surrounded him.

Originally destined for a legal career, Mahmoud Said graduated from the French School of Law in 1919. He worked as a lawyer, prosecutor, and then as judge in Mansouria, Alexandria and Cairo. He resigned from legal work in 1947, to dedicate himself solely to his art.

Mahmoud Said was taught by the Italian artist, Amelia Casonato Daforno, a resident of Alexandria who had studied at the Florence Academy. Said quickly learnt the classical methods of drawing faces, harmonization of colours and shading. He took further lessons by with another Florentine artist Artoro Zananeri, before leaving for Paris in 1920 for further study.

Mahmoud Said's crowning achievement was the application of a distinctly European aesthetic to strictly Egyptian and Nationalistic subject matters. Said participated in international exhibitions in Venice, Madrid and Alexandria. He staged exhibitions in New York, Paris, Rome, Moscow, Alexandria and Cairo. He was admitted to the French Legion d'honneur, winning a medal for Honorary Merit in 1951, and in 1960 was the first artist to be awarded the State Merit Award for Arts by Egyptian President Gamal Abdul-Nasser.